Okay, Okay, I know, the pump just keeps getting heavier and heavier everyday. Even as we drift into the summer season (feels like its been here for months) the prices outside the station seem higher than normal. Take note though, before us is not a time to get desperate for a quick fix.
This being 2012 and all, we have found ourselves at a cross roads of opportunity where raising the anchor makes more sense than digging our feet further into the sand.
The Tar Sands that is. The “cure all” for our pathetic dependence on foreign oil woes; the garden of eden for philanthropic petro-types staring into a reserve of bituminous golden apples just waiting to be plucked. Let it be known my friends that not only is this akin to the original sin for which mankind will be again forsaken for all eternity, this also represents the instigative serpent within us, manifested via our daily need for mobility through consumption and an increasing lack of social and environmental responsibility.
Located notoriously in Alberta, Canada as well as throughout other regions of the world, Tar Sands have long been a slice of “prehistoric history.” Just ten years ago fields of viscous black tar brought to mind little more than breeding grounds for preserved insights into the past instead of lucrative opportunities for the future. Only recently has all this changed. The trending increases in price per barrel have driven a huge incentivized push for new technology that has pumped fresh air into this crude bubble.
While augmented production lowers prices for the average consumer and keeps profits on this continent (remembering that this is still foreign oil…), new costs have been externalized onto local communities and the environment in a remote and fragile region of the world unknown to many reaping its benefits.
And this is not a new issue. Back in 2009 I joined hundreds to walk down the isles of COP15 in Copenhagen to beat on the drum of change and help spread the word to those delegates refusing to stand up for the voice less heard on the world stage (yup, that’s your not so humble narrator holding the “we don’t want your dirty oil” sign).
Sure, Obama keeps buying time with his promise to veto any bill brought before the oval office in favor of creating the Keystone pipeline, but with every day that passes his action becomes more and more “radical” (just Wednesday the house passed another bill in favor). Less than six months before the election those on the right are calling for an upheaval of every policy that bears his name and any stance “left of center” for the democrats is interpreted as more stalinesque than just mere (dare I say) contemporary progressive American policy (take note Rep. Allen West). Worse, given the rising price of mobility in the country, if we let the mob speak with their pockets, the collective sense of value will end at the nozzle instead of the future.
When asked if mining the tar sands will save us money on gas my answer is of course it will. However, when asked if cutting off my arm will help me lose weight my answer is of course it will. You decide for yourself where your priorities lie.
To learn more about the Tar Sands and how to take action please visit Tar Sands Action
Earthgarage – Greener Car. Fatter Wallet.